I Speak for the Trees
by Plumcot
Summary: When college student Lovino Vargas woke up on what was supposed to be a leisurely Sunday morning, the last thing he was expecting would be to find his brother, Feliciano, missing. No, scratch that; the last thing he was expecting was to find his brother chained to a tree. Activism fic. Rated T for Lovino's potty-mouth.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Alright, so I've already got one ongoing fic, and then I put this up. What gives, right? Don't worry! How to Date a Nation is still being written, I'm just wrestling with a particular bear of a chapter, which should be up relatively soon.**

**This fic, for one, was inspired by a conversation a friend and I had a while ago, which ended in me really wanting to write about Feliciano chained to a tree. And thus, "I Speak for the Trees" was born. It's my first AU fic, so please enjoy, and tell me if I mess anything up!**

* * *

Feliciano stood before the tree, a heavy chain draped over his shoulder. It was past midnight in the forest, and the night air was warm with the remnants of the hot summer sun. Something he was glad for, as he was never good at handling the cold. He looked down at his arms and went through his checklist. He had a cell phone, a blanket, a stainless steel water bottle, a packed lunch, and a bucket for… purposes. He'd rather not have to think about the bucket until he actually had to use it.

"You can do this, Feliciano." He said to himself. "You're brave, you can do this." He repeated this to himself like a mantra as he worked the chain around the tree, and then around his torso, locking it with two different locks, the keys long flushed to make sure he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. This was it. There was no turning back. Feliciano was going to save the forest, or die trying.

…Well, hopefully not that last bit.

* * *

Lovino woke to the alarm on his bedside table. He then hit the snooze button with a vengeance, and rolled over in his bed to get a couple more hours of sleep in. What the heck, it was Sunday. The college student could put off the day until noon, at least. He got five minutes of beauty sleep before he sat up straight in his bed, with a hint of panic to his urgent manner.

"Where's Feliciano?" He half-shouted to himself as he propelled himself off the mattress and onto the floor, running out into the hall to check his brother's room. Normally the overenthusiastic Italian would have woken him up before the alarm even sounded, never seeming to learn that waking Lovino up early on weekends earned you a punch in the face. And so his suspicions were only confirmed when he opened the door to Feliciano's room, and he was nowhere to be seen. He wasn't anywhere downstairs, either, though he had half expected to find him in the kitchen making pasta for breakfast. "Where's that idiota gone…" He grumbled as he stood in the living room, his hands poised angrily on his hips. He was about to go upstairs and wake their grandfather Roma to help search, but his eyes fell on a scrap of paper on the coffee table, covered in what looked like his brother's handwriting. He picked the paper up, reading it with furrowed brows.

_Dear Nonno and Lovino._

_If you're reading this, it means I'm gone. But don't worry! I've just gone away for a while to do what I think is right. Please don't try to find me because if you do then you'll want me to come home, and I can't, because I need to do this! I'll be back eventually._

_ Love, Feliciano. :)_

The airhead had even drawn a little smiley face after his signature. Lovino pressed the heel of his palm to his forehead, staving off the inevitable headache. Did he really think they wouldn't know where he'd went? The little tree hugger had been talking about this for days, even though they never thought he'd actually do it. When they had found out their beloved forest was going to be cut down… yes, it had been a shock, but at least he and their grandpa had had enough sense to stay out of the matter. But that idiot Feli hadn't been able to let it go. They had joked about him rioting with picket signs, almost as if the image was too funny to ever happen in reality. But it looked like he'd gotten the idea stuck in his head.

Lovino started up the stairs to his grandfather's room, but stopped himself midway. Did he really want to get Feliciano in trouble for this? He gave it a moment's consideration before he was out the door and in the garage, borrowing his grandfather's car. He really, really hoped he could get back before he woke up, because sticking his neck out for people was not something he did often, and he didn't want the one time to end in his ass getting roasted. He grumbled over the steering wheel the entire drive over, even as the town began to give way to dirt roads and forest. Finally the road ended, and he was forced to get out of the car and walk the rest of the way into the woods. He didn't have to search long, though; all he had to do was follow the snoring. It looked like Feliciano hadn't wandered in too far, probably wanting to make sure he'd be found easily by any loggers. He was chained securely to a large oak tree, his head resting against the trunk and his lower half covered by a blanket as he made that ungodly honking noise that was the reason they'd had to spring for a three-bedroom apartment.

"Fratello!" Lovino shouted, loud enough that it startled Feliciano into waking. The younger brother, having been ripped from his dreamland, simply stared dumbstruck at the older as if confounded that he had ever been able to find him. Lovino rolled his eyes. "I can't believe you! You nearly gave me a fucking heart attack this morning!"

"I'm sorry!" Feliciano whined, seemingly having been shaken out of his stupor. "I didn't mean to scare you! But see, I'm okay!"

"Idiota!" Lovino growled. "That's not the point! What the hell do you even think you're doing?!"

Feliciano smiled. "I'm saving the trees! You can help too, if you want!"

"Ohh, no." Lovino stepped toward his brother, wagging his finger like a stern mother. "If you want to chain yourself to a piece of wood and piss in a bucket, you can do it yourself. But _I'm_ going home, and I'm telling nonno!"

Feliciano's eyes widened. "Ve!? No, please don't! You don't understand, if you tellhimhe'll neverletmeoutofthehouseagainandthisisreallyreallyimportantsopleasedon'tLovino!" The last part of the sentence blurred into itself in a haze of forgotten commas and messy syllables.

"You don't get it, do you?" Lovino shouted. "This is dangerous! Have you even thought this through!?" All of a sudden, there were tears in Feliciano's eyes, his lower lip trembling.

"B-but Lovino!" Feliciano said, stuttering a bit. "If I don't do this, who will? Who's going to save our forest? We always p-played here, remember? I d-don't want it to be cut down!"

Something in his words struck Lovino. He sighed, running his hands through his hair. "Fine. You know what? Fine. I won't tell nonno. But he's going to notice you're gone eventually, and when that happens you're on your own." Feliciano nodded. If that was the best he was going to get out of his brother, he would take it. And when his grandfather came… well, he would cross that bridge when he got to it. "What am I even supposed to tell him?" Lovino continued, having resigned himself to the fact that his brother was an idiot and he was for some reason helping.

"Just… just tell him I'm sleeping over at a friend's house!"

"Yeah, and the day after that?"

"Err…" Feliciano flustered. "I didn't think of that…"

"Nevermind, I'll think of something." Lovino looked back at the little trail that had led him here, knowing his grandfather would be waking soon. "I'd better get going. Just… be careful, alright?"

"Si! Si, of course!" Feliciano said happily. "Grazie, Lovino!"

"Yeah, whatever." The older brother waved a short goodbye and headed back to his car, walking past the old wooden "Taylor Forest" sign. It was old and worn, but it still looked almost as it had when he, his brother and his grandfather had first moved to the neighboring town, almost nine years ago. It was true; there were a lot of good memories in that forest. Running around daring each other to climb taller and taller trees. Playing "Cowboys and Indians" with Alfred and Arthur, the latter never seeming quite as enthusiastic as the former. This was where they had spent entire days together searching for 'treasure', even though treasure to them usually meant old bottles and forgotten plastic jewelry. He scolded himself mentally at his own sentimentality. _"Stupid bastard. Keep thinking like that and you'll end up chained to a tree too." _He thought to himself, before climbing back into the car and driving off. He just hoped this would all blow over soon.

Not five minutes later he pulled back up to the house, and snuck back in through the door in the garage. He half expected his grandpa to be waiting there for him, leaning against the wall with the "You're screwed" smile on his face. But he was relieved when he realized the old man hadn't even gotten up yet. He briefly considered trying to get back to sleep, but his system was already filled with so many stress hormones it would probably be useless. So he settled for just taking some eggs out of the fridge and making himself some breakfast. It wasn't long before he heard his grandfather coming down the stairs, and Roma was soon leaning over his shoulder, asking if he could make him some eggs, too.

"Make your own damn eggs." Lovino grumbled, pushing his own around the pan.

"Language, Lovino." Roma chastised, his grey-flecked hair disappearing behind the refrigerator door as he searched for something he could make himself. For all his fifty-eight years, Roma still looked like he was only at the south end of forty, his prominent laugh lines the only real giveaway that he could be old enough to have grandchildren in college. He finally stood up, holding two of his own eggs and a pack of bacon.

"That shit'll clog your arteries." Lovino commented as he scraped his eggs onto a plate.

Roma laughed. "Why do you suddenly care so about my health, Lovino?"

"Arthur was just talking about it the other day, and he said it was really bad for you- hey!" he was cut off when his grandfather started ruffling his hair affectionately, as if he were five years old.

"At my age, I think I deserve some bad habits, no?" He said happily, before plopping five fat strips of bacon into the same pan, still hot from the eggs. "So, where's Feliciano?" Lovino tensed.

"Um…" He said, thinking of what he could say to get himself out of this fast. "He's with some friends."

"This early in the morning?" Roma questioned, one eyebrow climbing steadily upward.

"Y-yeah! He said he had to catch a movie or some shit like that." He gulped as Roma looked at him carefully, as if judging whether to believe him or not. Finally he smiled, and Lovino let out a breath he hadn't even known he'd been holding.

"That's lovely!" Roma said, as they both headed toward the table with their breakfasts and sat down across from each other. "It's nice that Feliciano is getting out with his friends, don't you think?" Lovino snorted. He said it like it was a rare thing. Ever since they were kids, Feliciano had had a habit of… collecting people. And it wasn't like _they_ came to _him_, oh no; he had always been the kid who would run up to a stranger on the playground and introduce himself. It didn't stop, either; as he grew he was doing it in the school hallways, in the aisles at his first summer job, and now anywhere on campus he could spot someone who looked friendly. It was as if he breathed companionship like air. Come to think of it… he was probably pretty lonely out there under his tree. "Hellooo? Earth to Lovino?" He snapped out of his train of thought to find his grandfather tapping him on the head with his (hopefully unused) fork.

"Hey! What the hell, old man?"

Roma just snickered. "And he's back!" He said happily, before digging into his food. Lovino sighed and did the same, still thinking about Feliciano. Maybe he should be giving him more credit for what he was doing?

* * *

Four hours later…

Feliciano was bored. It was a simple fact that you can only play I Spy with yourself so many times before the game gets pointless, and he was starting to wish he had brought a book, or a game, or _something _to keep himself occupied. Not only that, he was starting to get hungry. And he thought he had been so smart, planning ahead by packing himself a breakfast. He winced slightly at the stiff feeling in his back as he readjusted himself against the bark. Such were the sacrifices of a man on a mission, he supposed.

Oh, who was he kidding. He was Feliciano Vargas, and anyone who knew him for any amount of time would know that he couldn't go without his food. He was Italian, dammit! He didn't know how much longer he could take this…

"Hey, idiota!" Feliciano immediately brightened up when he heard his brother's yell. He looked up to see him walking down the path to him, holding a canvas bag in his hands. "I figured you'd probably be hungry by now, so I brought you some food." He dropped the bag in the lap of the Italian, who eagerly looked inside to find a good-sized lunch box. "There's enough in there for lunch and dinner, and I guess I can do this kind of shit for you every day. Nonno would kill me if I let you starve, anyway." He looked away from his brother as he said this, his cheeks flushing with the embarrassment of the good deed. Feliciano didn't seem to notice, though.

"Oh, thank you, Lovino!" He said happily, already opening up the box. "You're the best fratello anyone could ask for… ve?" Lovino smirked, knowing he'd found what he had hidden beneath the lunch box. "You brought me books!" Feliciano practically squealed in delight, pulling out the small stack of his favorites; The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, and The Princess Bride.

"Yeah, I figured you'd be bored out of your mind by now, so I decided to be an awesome big brother and bring you these." He mentally slapped himself for sounding like Gilbert.

"Ohh, grazie grazie grazie!" Feliciano said. "Come here!"

"What?" What was the idiot doing now?

"Just come over here!" Lovino obliged, and immediately regretted it as he was pulled down into a very tight hug.

"L-let go of me you bastard! You're cutting off my air!" Of course, if Feliciano really had been choking him then he wouldn't have been able to yell his protest quite so loudly. But he was released anyway, and rubbed his neck theatrically as he stepped away from the tree.

"Ve, I'm sorry! But you're being so nice, Lovino! I had to give you a hug!" He giggled. Yes, the little moron actually giggled. It was no wonder he wore dresses until he was ten…

"I've gotta go now, or nonno will start wondering where I am. You just… do whatever you do."

"Si, I won't keep you. Grazie, Lovino!" He called again as he watched his brother disappear into the forest. Sighing happily, he pulled out the cold pasta Lovino had packed and cracked open The Princess Bride. He was lucky to have him.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day was a Friday, which meant back to school for Lovino. First, though, he had to explain to his grandfather why Feliciano was still out 'with his friends'.

"Oh, yeah, he called and said he was sleeping over." He answered Roma's question nonchalantly. _"Yes!" _He thought to himself. _"That was _so _smooth! I shoulda been an actor!" _

"Oh, alright then." Roma seemed to accept the lie without question. "Whose house, out of curiosity?"

Oh shit. "Umm… Elizabeta's, I think."

"You think? Didn't you ask?"

"Um, yeah, sure I did, I just, um, wasn't paying a lot of attention." That earned him a light smack on the head with his grandfather's newspaper.

"So rude, Lovino! You should pay attention when people are talking to you!"

"Yeah, yeah." He didn't even put up a fight, glad he had gotten out of the question so easily. That just left a trip to the forest to make sure Feli didn't starve, and finally the drive to the university. He didn't know how he would explain Feliciano's absence to his teachers, (he was sure he'd be especially missed in art class) but at least there was someone he could talk to about the whole situation there. A few someones, actually.

Lovino sat on a bench in the quad, Alfred and Arthur sitting just next to him. The Vargas brothers had been friends with the two blondes ever since they moved to the town neighboring the university when they were about ten or so years old. Alfred had lived there his entire life, and thus knew all the best places to go and make trouble in without adult interference, making Lovino and him into fast friends. Arthur… well, Arthur had been friends with Alfred before they had even been in the picture, though it was hard to see why since, for all they were so close, they were constantly fighting. And it came as even more of a surprise when, five years later, the two started dating. Even now, they still argued just as much as ever; the only difference was that they had a good excuse to make out afterward.

"Wait, so he just chained himself to it?" Alfred asked, seemingly fascinated by Feliciano's escapades. Lovino had managed to explain the situation with the minimum amount of curse words, and now it looked like it was the questions portion of the day. "How does he poop?"

Lovino grimaced. Leave it to him to ask the grossest question possible. "Don't be an idiot." Arthur scolded the American before Lovino could get to him. "Feliciano is out there doing something _illegal, _and you're worried about how he relieves himself?"

"Hey!" Lovino protested. "It's not like he's spray-painting walls or stealing shit! He's doing what he thinks is right!"

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think you were the activist type." He commented. And Lovino wasn't, really. But he also didn't like him implying that his brother was a criminal. He was about to come back with a clever retort, but suddenly his vision went black.

"Guess who?" He heard the Spanish-accented voice that belonged to the hands over his eyes.

"What the fuck are you doing, Antonio!?" Lovino shouted impatiently.

"Ahahaha, always so grumpy!" Antonio said, seemingly unfazed by his boyfriend's outburst. He leaned down to give Lovino a peck on the cheek, to which the Italian grumbled wordlessly. "So then, what are you all talking about?"

"Feliciano chained himself to a tree!" Alfred blurted out enthusiastically.

Antonio frowned, confused. "He did what?" he asked.

Lovino sighed. It looked like he'd be explaining this again. "I woke up the other day, and Feli was gone. But he left a note saying I shouldn't try to find him. I found him in about fifteen minutes, and he was up at Taylor Forest, chained to a tree. Thinks he's gonna save the world or something."

"No way! Saving the world is my job!" Alfred protested loudly. Something seemed to strike him mid-sentence, though, and he slapped his palm to his forehead. "Shit, that's right! Class is in five minutes, I gotta go!"

"Good luck!" Arthur shouted after him as he ran off. Alfred was in college to acquire the skills to write his own comic books, and he had art and writing classes almost all day long. He had always been fairly obsessed with superheroes, and it had been no surprise when he announced his dream of creating them. Of course Arthur, the English major, was less than impressed by his decision. He thought comics were only for those who couldn't read books without brightly colored pictures to keep their attention. But to everyone's surprise, Alfred's stories were actually pretty good. And even Arthur had to admit it was entertaining to read about 'Captain Prism' defeating villainy with his light-bending powers.

"You're saying Feliciano has himself chained to a tree in the middle of the forest?" Antonio asked, seeming unwilling to let the matter go. Lovino was ready to rant about what an idiot Feli was to pull a stunt like this, but the next sentence out of Antonio's mouth surprised him. "That's amazing!"

If it were a movie, Lovino would have done a double take. "W-wait, what!?" He spluttered. "You actually think it's a good idea?"

"Of course!" Antonio said, smiling. "I've wanted to do something like this for ages, especially after they said they were cutting down Taylor Forest. I was never brave enough myself, though. I'm glad Feli is taking a stand! Why, aren't you proud of him?"

"Um… I…" Lovino hadn't honestly thought any of their friends would approve. He had been ready to downplay the whole thing, making sure nobody made fun of him for having a hippie brother. But if Antonio liked it… "Y-yeah, of course I am! I just wish he'd told me first, instead of scaring me out of my wits when he wandered off like that…"

"There is one thing I'm wondering though…" Arthur piped up.

Lovino turned back to the blonde. "Yeah, what's that?"

"What does he do when it rains?"

Lovino slapped his palm to his forehead. "The little idiota probably didn't even think of that…"

"Lovi!" Antonio was on his feet now, gesturing for Lovino to do the same.

"What is it? And don't call me Lovi, bastard."

"Our class is about to start!"

The Italian stood with lightning speed then. "Right, shit, I forgot! See you later, Arthur."

"You as well." Arthur called after them as they walked together to their cooking class. Antonio and Lovino had met in cooking class at the beginning of Lovino's first semester here. Both wanted to be chefs, and were majoring in the culinary arts. At first Lovino had just wanted to get in and out of the university with as little social interaction as possible, but the tomato bastard had had other plans. The very first class Lovino had gotten a pat of frosting on his nose, and Antonio just had to announce in front of the entire class how cute it looked. Needless to say, the Spaniard had ended up with a head covered in frosting, and the Italian with a very stern warning. You'd think he would have been scared off, but no; he persisted day after day, with a bit of unwarranted advice here and an embarrassing little compliment there. He even tried to guide Lovino's hand as he was stirring sauce once, like a scene out of some cheesy romance movie. Eventually, what could Lovino do but give the guy a chance? And he turned out to be… not totally horrible. He made Lovino laugh, and feel good about himself, and he always knew what to say. He really loved Antonio, not that he'd ever admit it.

Now they were the center of attention practically every day in cooking class. Especially since the class seemed to be organized mainly of yaoi fangirls (and boys), and Antonio simply couldn't resist playing it up.

And if anyone ever asks, Lovino only knows what yaoi is from hanging around Kiku.

At the moment the class was baking soufflé, and Antonio was happily chatting away with one of the students at the station next to him, Katyusha. Well, at least he had something to occupy- wait, was he talking about Feliciano? He leaned in closer to get a good listen.

"He's going to save the whole forest all on his own?" Katyusha was saying, only half-concentrating on her soufflé. "That's so brave!"

"Isn't it though?" Antonio agreed.

"Oh, but it must be lonely! Maybe we should go over and keep him company?"

"Actually," Lovino stepped in just in time. "We were going to do just that after school. Right, Antonio?"

"Que? Antonio said questioningly. Lovino elbowed him discreetly in the ribs, and he seemed to get the hint. "Oh, s-si! Of course we were!" The Italian smirked. He might not be into girls, but Antonio was, and he didn't want him going on some kind of private date with the Russian girl. That… somehow included Feliciano. His logic was flawless, dammit.

Katyusha smiled anyway, seemingly not offended. "It's wonderful how you're supporting him, Lovino. I'll be with you two every step of the way!"

"Yeah, right, thanks for that." Lovino said, his own smile just a tad forced.

"Wait, did I just hear that?" Oh great. One of the boys stepped over. "Lovino, is your brother really trying to save the forest?"

"Umm… yeah, that's right."

"That's so cool! Is there, like, a sign-up sheet?"

"A what? Listen, I don't-" Even for his protests, Lovino was doomed to be surrounded by most of the rest of the class, all curious about Feliciano. Eventually he just gave up answering all the questions and let the crowd speculate.

"I bet he's giving the police hell!" One girl said.

"Aw yeah, fight the man, man!" Her friend replied.

"I never knew Lovino's brother was so badass!"

"Maybe he's actually that graffiti artist we've been seeing around town. You know, Ecoman or somethin' like that?"

"Hey, I wonder if he's taking recruits?"

Lovino ran his hands through his hair. "This is getting out of hand!" He complained to Antonio. "Feliciano doesn't do _any _of these things! He's just a sentimental moron who wanted to save some trees!" Antonio was about to reply, when they heard a loud whistle, and the entire class turned to the front of the room.

"Are you all quite done?" The teacher asked, looking sternly down her nose at the class. Everyone nodded silently. "Then please attend to your soufflés." Everyone did as they were told, heading back to their respective stations.

"You should keep an open mind, Lovi." Antonio whispered as they mixed their ingredients. "You might be surprised." Lovino just grumbled and kept on stirring. All he knew was that if word kept spreading like this, their grandfather might know before anyone even told him. And the fact was, nobody lied to Roma Vargas and came out unscathed. Nobody.

Partly because he didn't want his brother to be lonely and partly because he didn't want to make himself a liar, once all of his classes for the day were said and done Lovino decided to go with his boyfriend to visit Feliciano. Antonio had no objections, unsurprisingly, to giving him a ride, and happily took him in his car to the forest. First, though, they had to stop at the Spaniard's house. Lovino waited impatiently in the passenger seat as he went into his house and came out seemingly hours later (really it was fifteen minutes, but let it never be said that Lovino is a patient man) and stuffed something in the trunk.

"What was that?" Lovino asked as they drove off.

"A tarp, to help with the rain." Antonio answered. "We wouldn't want him to have to abandon his mission just because of a little rain, ahahaha!" Lovino tried to sneer at his stupid laugh, but he couldn't lie; he loved it. They drove the short way to the forest and stepped out of the car together, Antonio grabbing the tarp and a couple of poles from the trunk. "Ah, I always loved this place!" Antonio mused, stopping to breathe in the fresh air.

Lovino snorted in amusement. "Oh, please. You've only been living here three years."

"Exactly!" Antonio said with a smile on his face. "And I've loved this forest ever since I came here!" He began to walk into the forest. Lovino just stayed in place, and smirked when Antonio came back, rubbing his head sheepishly and saying; "Er, which way is Feliciano again?" The Italian simply pointed the direction smugly, and started walking. When they came across Feliciano, he was sitting with The Secret Garden in his hands, seemingly engrossed in the book. He looked up when he heard the two approaching, and a huge grin spread across his face.

"Lovino! And Antonio! You came to visit me!" He said excitedly.

"That we did!" Antonio agreed. He walked over to Feliciano's tree. "And we come bearing gifts!"

"Ooh, what's that?" Feli asked, referring to the tarp.

"I call it a stationary umbrella!" Antonio replied. Lovino rolled his eyes. Who did that whimsical idiot think he was, with his charming, clever little names? Bastard…

Antonio stuck the poles in a square around Feliciano, and then fixed the tarp over him. "Ve, Antonio, you're really smart!" Feliciano exclaimed happily.

"Gracias, Feliciano! Now you can stay out here as long as you want!"

"Which is how long, exactly?" Lovino stepped into the conversation.

"What do you mean?" Feliciano asked innocently.

"You can't stay here forever, Feli. You're gonna have to come home eventually."

Feliciano looked confused. "Of course! After the loggers go away." Lovino just sighed and rolled his eyes again. God-damned idealist. "Oh! Fratello, can I ask you a favor?"

"It depends." Lovino said suspiciously. "What kind of favor?"

"It's just that I finished the books you brought me, so could you pretty please bring me some more?"

"Yeah, I guess I could do that. You owe me, though."

"Of course!" Feliciano smiled again.

"For now, though, we didn't just come to bring you the tarp, right Lovino?" Antonio prodded.

Lovino nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, that's right. We came to…. To keep you company, dammit."

Feliciano's face immediately brightened more than Lovino had ever thought was possible. "Really? Ve, you're both so nice!" As suddenly as it had arrived, his smile disappeared and was replaced with worry. "Oh, but I can't offer you anywhere to sit!"

Antonio chuckled. "Ah, don't worry. A little dirt never hurt anyone, right Lovino?" Lovino grumbled as he sat down on the ground next to the two of them.

They spent hours chatting there about anything that came to their minds. Antonio, in particular, seemed to want to know all about what it was like to be an activist. "Isn't it uncomfortable at night?" He asked Feli, by all means looking enthralled by the whole thing.

"Si, but it's not too bad. I brought a blanket, and it's really warm out this time of year, so I just bunch it up and put it behind my back!"

"Ooh, smart!" Antonio praised. "Don't you get scared at all?"

"Ve, sometimes. The forest makes a lot of scary noises at night, but you get used to it." Lovino just watched grudgingly as his boyfriend fangirled over his brother. It was the conversation from hell. And he had just the thing to ruin it.

"Hey, Antonio, ask him what the bucket's for." Feliciano immediately blushed and started fidgeting his hands. But Antonio just laughed and clapped his hand on the younger Italian's back.

"Don't worry, Feli." He said reassuringly. "Some of the greatest movers and shakers in history have had to do their business in odd places."

"Really?" Feliciano asked, wide-eyed. Leave it to Antonio to make shitting in a bucket a positive.

"How would you even know that?" Lovino asked, brushing a leaf from his hair.

"Ah, I've been interested in activism for a while." Antonio said casually, leaning back onto the tree. "I read all the blogs, watched all the reality shows. I always thought it would be cool to stand up to the authorities, make the world a better place. But honestly, I just never had it in me to do anything really big. I went to one rally for gay marriage a couple of years ago, and that's it. But I'm still a big… well, I guess you could call me a fan of activism. It sounds a bit pathetic, but there it is."

It almost looked like Antonio was expecting to be ridiculed, but Feliciano smiled and put an arm around his shoulder in a half-hug. "It's alright, Toni." He said. "What matters is that you care!" Antonio smiled back, and the whole thing was very sappy and mushy and sickly sweet, until Lovino realized something.

"Ah, shit. Nonno's gonna wonder where I am. Antonio, we gotta move."

Antonio sighed and stood from the ground, brushing his pants off. "I suppose he's right. Adios, Feliciano!"

"Ciao!" Feliciano replied. "Thank you for visiting me!"

"It was no trouble!" Antonio waved as he and Lovino walked back to the car together. "Ah, that was a nice talk, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess it could've gone worse." Lovino said as he ducked into the car. "I just hope he isn't setting himself up for failure."

"I think you should put more faith in him." Antonio commented. "He's obviously confident in himself, and that's already half the battle." Lovino didn't reply, and the topic was dropped for the rest of the car ride. To be honest, he still thought this whole thing was just silly. Chaining oneself to trees was for loonies and radicals, and the fact that it was getting Feliciano so much attention honestly irked him a little. Juvenile, he knew, but even the so-called antisocial Lovino felt neglected every once in a while. "Lovi." Lovino looked up to see Antonio smiling ear to ear, though he kept his eyes on the road. "I love you." Lovino immediately blushed, turning frantically away for fear he'd explode from embarrassment.

"Y-yeah, I knew that! Bastard…" Antonio just chuckled at his shy manner, and kept driving down the road. Very soon they were parked in front of Lovino's house, and they kissed each other goodbye before he stepped up onto the porch. He pulled out his cellphone quickly, checking the time. "Six fifty six… okay, I'm only two hours later than usual. He might not kill me." He took a deep breath, turned the key in the lock, and stepped through. "Hello?" He called softly, really hoping no-one would actually hear him. Wishful thinking, really.

"Lovino!" He barely had time to flinch before he was whacked on the head with his grandfather's apparent weapon of choice, his newspaper. "What have I told you? You can go out with friends whenever you like, just let me know first! Where have you been, anyway?" Oh, yes, Lovino had almost forgotten about his little rule. Actually… he probably could have just used his cellphone and avoided this whole thing. He slapped himself mentally.

"I was just out with Antonio!" He said. Okay, not a total lie. He'd regret the words as soon as he said them, though.

"Ohh, I see." A sly grin spread across his grandfather's face. "Who am I to get in the way of true love, then?"

Lovino's face immediately turned bright-red. "W-what!? The hell is that supposed to mean, old bastard!? We're not- I mean-" He actually didn't know what to say to that. On the one hand, he had never really grown out of the whole 'love is gross' phase which had ended for most of his friends around age thirteen. He didn't like talking about it, didn't like thinking about it. But on the other hand, he and Antonio were… dating. And he enjoyed it. And they had something special, didn't they? And even though Lovino himself had never actually said "I love you", the damned Spaniard sure said it enough for both of them.

"You can't deny it!~" Roma said in a sing-song voice. "Oh, yes!" He said, seemingly having realized something. "Where is your brother? You did say he was sleeping over, but he's been gone a while."

Oh. That again. "Um, he said he was going to stay another night. They're, um, working on a p-project together. Him and Elizabeta. Yeah."

Roma furrowed his brows and looked at his grandson. "Are you sure?" He asked. "He's never stayed out this long before. Lovino, is there something you're not telling me?" His eyes narrowed.

"No! No, of course not! He's just having a lot of fun at her house, that's all!" Roma looked at him a moment, seemingly appraising him, but he must have decided against further questioning because his face softened and he stepped back. "Ah, alright. I do wonder why he isn't calling _me _though."

"Yeah, funny, huh?" Suddenly, Lovino's stomach began to complain. Loudly.

Roma laughed. "It looks like your gut can tell time better than you can, Lovino! Help me with dinner, would you?" The two made a simple pasta dish together, and ate at the table with one place missing. Roma said nothing more after the earlier questions, but something told Lovino that their little charade couldn't last long.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I'm so, so sorry I haven't been updating for a while! Everything just got so busy all of a sudden! But as a reward for waiting, have some GerIta! Admit it; you knew it was coming.**

* * *

When Lovino got to the university next day, it wasn't Antonio he saw first, or any of the others. No, it was Katyusha, running urgently across the lawn until she stopped in front of him, out of breath.

"L-Lovino!" She said breathlessly, her cheeks red from running. Lovino had no idea what to do in this situation, so he settled for his default.

"The fuck are you doing!?" He asked, one eyebrow raised at the strange scene.

"Something important! It…" She paused, giving herself a second to catch her breath. Lovino was beginning to grow impatient when she finally continued. "My brother heard about what your brother is doing, and he told our mother!"

"Yeah?" Lovino said, not totally comprehending. "And?"

"You don't understand! Our mother is the captain of the police department!" In an instant, it all clicked in Lovino's head. Oh, no; this could be a disaster.

* * *

Ludwig pulled up to the forest entrance, parking his squad car just in front of the sign. He sighed as he ducked out of the door. Of course, give the new guy the job of hauling some nutter away from his tree. He grabbed the bolt cutters from the passenger seat and started down the path, hoping whoever he'd find didn't put up too much of a fight.

Ludwig had only joined the force all of three months ago. His parents had always wanted him to go into law enforcement, and they had been enthralled when he finally did. He was made fun of routinely, being both the new guy and the foreigner, (he had moved to America from Germany when he was eleven, so he didn't know why they still treated him like he'd just come off the boat) and he was sure he was set on this task just so the others could have a laugh at his expense. As he walked, he caught a glimpse of something; a flash of reddish brown hair down the path. It looked like he'd found his guy. The closer he got, the more he saw of the activist. The man chained to the tree looked young, or at least younger than Ludwig. Maybe a college student. His hair was messy, with a single stray curl sticking out one side, seemingly determined to set itself apart. His white t-shirt and green jacket were dirty from spending time outside. He was sitting under some kind of blue tarp, and he seemed to be engrossed in a book. A few more steps toward the kid was enough for Ludwig to be noticed. He looked up from his book, smiling. He was obviously expecting someone else. But the smile soon turned to confusion, and then worry as he realized what was going on.

"Ve? Wh-who are you?" The kid said with an Italian accent.

"Er…" Ludwig really had no idea what the process was with this kind of thing. "You know what you're doing is illegal, right?" The Italian's eyes widened when they fell on the bolt cutters in his hands.

"Are you here to…?" The kid trailed off, seeming unwilling to even finish the sentence.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to take you in. It's the law." He stepped closer to the tree, preparing himself for the worst. He was ready to have to drag the kid away from his tree, even fight him if need be. But there was one thing he just wasn't expecting.

"No, please don't! I'm really really sorry but I have to stay here so please don't take me away!" The Italian said frantically. Ludwig tried to ignore him and gripped the bolt cutters in preparation, but as soon as he did the brunette started crying. Loudly. "Aaah, p-please don't hurt me! Y-you're German, right? I have cousins in Germany, isn't that a coincidence?" Ludwig was startled. He wasn't sure whether to laugh or just stand there confused. This was too ridiculous for words. But he realized then that tears were actually coming from the Italian's eyes. His training had never covered this! What was he supposed to do?

"Um… it's okay, you don't have to cry?" He said. Well, that did nothing. The kid was still crying, and Ludwig still couldn't bring himself to just cut the damn chain and get it over with. "No, really, I'm not going to hurt you…" No change. He sighed and whacked his palm to his forehead, letting go of the bolt cutters with the other hand. "There! I dropped them, see? You don't have to worry!" His captain would have his head for this. Or worse, his job. But it was worth it to see the Italian's expression switch from miserable to delighted in about a millisecond.

"Grazie grazie grazie! I can't believe you would do something so nice!" Something in his smile made Ludwig's heart skip a beat. Ah, well. He could come back another day. "Oh!" The Italian seemed to have an idea. "I don't have much here, but would you please have lunch with me? I have to thank you!"

Ludwig was dumbfounded. Did this kid really just say what he thought he said? But… to be honest he rather wanted to stay and get to know him better. So despite his better judgment, he found himself agreeing. "Ja, I could stay with you." He said.

"Ve, wonderful! Please, sit!" Ludwig did, taking care to duck under the strange tarp structure without toppling it. "Oh! My name is Feliciano, what's yours?" So the kid's name was Feliciano, then.

"Ludwig." He replied simply.

"Aha! So I was right, you are German!" Ludwig nodded as Feliciano rustled around in a bag to his right and pulled out a good-sized lunchbox. He probably had somebody making food for him every day. Lucky kid.

"And you're Italian." The German said it more like a statement than a question. It was pretty obvious by that point.

"Si, I am! Nonno, fratello and I moved here a long time ago, when we were just kids."

"How old?" Ludwig asked as he accepted the cold pasta he was offered.

"Hmm, well I was ten and fratello was almost eleven."

"Really? I was eleven when we moved here."

"Ve? How old are you now?"

"Twenty three." Ludwig answered without thinking. Something about Feliciano just made him want to talk.

"Oh! You're older than you look! I'm nineteen." So he was probably right about the college student thing, then. "You're nicer than I thought you would be!" The Italian continued. "When I first saw you, I thought you were really scary. Especially since you were holding that!" He gestured at the bolt cutters, now laying on the ground. "But now I really like you!"

Ludwig raised one eyebrow, slightly amused. "You've known me for five minutes."

"Si, but I can tell you're a nice person." That seemed to be enough for the brunette, who showed no signs of being uncomfortable around the police officer at all. Which was especially interesting given that he had been practically begging for his life before. Ludwig, however, was uneasy. He still had a job to do, and he felt like he should be doing _something _along those lines. He coughed awkwardly, and Feliciano looked his way. "What is it?" He asked.

"Well, it's just… you can't really stay here, you know." Ludwig said.

Feliciano cocked his head. "Why not?"

"It's against the law. You're really causing a lot of problems for a lot of people, and if you stay it could get very scary in the future, and if you can't handle one cop coming at you with bolt cutters then I don't think…" He trailed off there, not entirely sure how he was going to end the sentence in the first place. He was expecting some sort of vehement protest, but to his surprise Feliciano… _smiled. _

"I know." He said, with a hint of sadness in his voice. "I'm probably not the best person to do this. But if I don't do it, who will? So that's why I had to do it. I didn't even think it through, because I knew if I did I'd be too scared to ever do something like this." He paused, chuckling softly, then continued. "I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues."

Wait; Ludwig recognized that from somewhere… "The Lorax?" He questioned.

"Si, it was my favorite when I was young. The first book I read on my own in English. I never really understood what it meant until I grew up, though."

Ludwig nodded, but soon realized something. "I should probably be going. The others at the station will notice I'm gone otherwise." He looked down at the food in his hand, still untouched. "I'm sorry, I didn't even eat any of the food you gave me…"

The Italian laughed. "Ve, it's alright! It was nice just sitting and talking to you, Ludwig!" A red tinge began to color the German's cheeks, and he smiled awkwardly.

"Yes, well… goodbye. I'll come back another day, I guess."

"Goodbye!" Ludwig walked back to his car, still not entirely sure what had just happened. Only once he was buckled in and ready to leave did it hit him, and he hit his head against the steering wheel.

_"Captain Braginski is going to kill me…"_

* * *

It was another hour until Lovino made it to the forest, having gone first to the police station expecting him to be there, and then having to stop for gas. By the time he finally was able to walk briskly past the sign and into the forest, he was muttering and cursing under his breath, hoping he could get to the tree fast so it could all be over with.

"Fratello!" He heard his idiot brother's voice soon enough. He was sitting under the tree, as usual, looking as cheery as if he had just been handed a basket full of kittens.

"You're still here?" Lovino said, his voice with a twinge of anger to it.

Feliciano looked confused. "Ve? Of course I'm still here, where else would I be?"

"How about at the police office behind bars, you moron!?" Feliciano stared blankly, so Lovino continued his rant. "Katyusha told me the police heard about your little mission! How are you even still here? Did nobody come after all?"

"Oh no," Feliciano said. "A policeman came, but he was really nice and handsome and he didn't take me away or anything, and we ate lunch together only he didn't have anything to eat, and he said he was going to come… back." Panic overtook his features. "L-Lovino! He's still going to take me away from my tree, isn't he!?"

"No shit he is! He's a cop, and you're breaking the law! That's what they do!"

"But what am I going to do!?" Feliciano cried.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Lovino screamed it practically at the top of his lungs. Feliciano was stunned, his features frozen in surprise. "I don't know." Lovino said again softly. He dropped down to the ground, giving no thought to how dirty his pants might come away.

There was a moment of silence. And then Feliciano said, cautiously; "How's nonno doing?"

Lovino laughed, though he didn't know what was so funny. "He's doing fine. Misses you. Wishes you'd come back from your friend's house."

Feliciano laughed himself at that. "That's what you told him?"

Lovino nodded. "Yeah." He sighed, looking back to the path. "I should be getting home. Nonno'll have a lot of questions by now, anyway. You've been gone about three days by now, after all."

Feliciano was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry if I got you into trouble." He finally said.

"You'd better be." Lovino grumbled back, before standing up and brushing himself off. "If I'm not back tomorrow, it probably means Nonno killed me."

"He wouldn't do that, though!" Feliciano said.

"Right, he'd probably just torture me until I learned my lesson. Goodbye, anyway."

"Goodbye! And good luck!" Lovino walked back up the path to his car. He had really been hoping he'd never have to have this conversation. Ever. But it looked like it was unavoidable. As he drove back to their house, he played over in his head every possible outcome to the confrontation, from 'everything's okay and by the way they solved world hunger too' to 'killed, resurrected and then killed again'. The steering wheel became increasingly hard to hold, as his palms got sweatier by the minute. When he finally found himself standing before the front door, he hesitated on the doorknob before opening it and stepping in.

"Hello?" He called through the house. "I'm home. Sorry I'm late." He waited, but no answer came. Frowning, he stepped further into the house, and something caught his eye on the coffee table, which seemed to be the consensus place to leave notes in this house. He picked up the scrap of paper and read it.

_Don't panic, I'm just out with a few friends. Legolas and the others called to invite me out to a new bar down the street, how could I say no? I'll be back by eleven, don't burn down the house._

_Love, Nonno._

Lovino raised his eyebrow at the odd nickname Roma had used to refer to his friend, Osmund. Well, he supposed he _did _look a bit elf-like…

But that wasn't important. What _was _important was that his grandfather wasn't going to be back until after bed, and he had an entire day before he had to have that conversation with him. Looked like Lady Luck was on his side! He smirked to himself, and ran to his room to waste time on the internet before bed, all but forgetting about what a day it would promise to be when he woke up tomorrow.

* * *

**Author's Note: Ludwig is horrible at his job. That is all. XD**


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, Lovino came downstairs to find his grandfather already in the kitchen, standing over the stove and cooking himself a pan of eggs.

"Ah, Lovino, you're up!" He said cheerily, dumping the eggs onto a plate.

Lovino snickered. "I'm surprised you're not hung over as hell." He commented.

Roma chuckled back. "I have enough sense not to get _that_ drunk anymore. Besides, all I need to have fun is companionship, and I don't believe I ever ran out last night." He put half of the eggs on a plate for Lovino, grabbed a pair of forks, and gestured for him to follow him out to the table. They sat down with their food. "So then, Lovino." Roma said casually, eating a piece of egg before continuing. "Are you going to tell me where Feliciano really is, or will I have to drag it out of your friends?"

Lovino froze. This was it. It was now or never. The next words that came out of his mouth would probably determine whether he lived or died. Metaphorically, but still. "Um…"

Roma raised an eyebrow. Looked like 'um' wasn't the right thing to say. "Come out with it, then. Or did you think I was joking about your friends?"

"He's chained to a tree." Lovino blurted out.

This caused Roma's _other _eyebrow to lift into the air. "What did you say?" He asked.

"The other day I woke up and he wasn't there so I went downstairs to look for him and there was a note on the coffee table that said I shouldn't try to find him so _of course _I went looking for him and I thought he would probably be in the forest because he'd been talking about it for days and he was there and he was _chained to a tree _and he asked me not to tell you because you might try to make him come home and _I'm sorry please don't kill me!"_ He said, all commas seemingly thrown to the wind in the continuous sentence. He braced himself for the inevitable tongue-lashing, but it never came. Instead, his grandfather stood from the table, abandoning his eggs and heading straight for the front door. "Wha- where are you going?" Lovino asked.

"Where do you think? To go find your fratello!" Roma called back, stepping out the door. He popped his head back in and glared at Lovino. "I'll deal with _you _later." He said, in a tone that just about made Lovino shiver, before he shut the door.

Roma climbed into the car, starting the engine and driving out as fast as he could without getting honked at. He should have known something like this would happen. He'd figured out Lovino had been lying ages ago, but he'd never assumed Feliciano might be doing something _dangerous. _The worst he'd thought was that his youngest grandson might have been staying with a girlfriend (or boyfriend) and didn't want him to know. But this? He didn't even know what he was going to do with the boy once he found him. A small part of him really didn't want to reprimand him for doing what he thought was right. But the larger, more rational part knew that, right or not, what he was doing was stupid and dangerous, especially since he most likely hadn't planned it out for more than a few hours before actually going and chaining himself to the tree. That was the problem with Feli. He had a good heart, but he was… lacking in logical faculties. Not to say he was stupid, he just didn't think things through. Roma soon pulled in next to the forest sign, stepping out of the car and walking down the path into the forest. It wasn't long before he caught sight of his grandson, sitting under a tree with a blue plastic… thing over him.

"Feliciano!" He called, slightly angrily.

Feliciano's head snapped up from the book he was reading, panic evident in his eyes. "N-Nonno!" He stuttered. "You- did Lovino-"

"Lovino told me everything." Roma said, stopping in front of Feliciano with his arms crossed. "What were you thinking, pulling something like this? Do you know how dangerous this is!?"

"I-" Feliciano started, but didn't get to finish as Roma interrupted him.

"What are you planning to do if there's a rainstorm, then? What if you get sick, or hurt, and can't call anybody for help because I know for a _fact_ you left your cell phone at home? What if a wild animal comes and decides you look tasty?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't think-" He was cut off again.

"What are you even doing for food anyway, Feliciano? Have you been eating acorns, for God's sake!?"

Feliciano's lip trembled, though his eyes were dry. "L-Lovino…" He said hesitantly, as if waiting to be interrupted. "Lovino's been bringing me food every day. And he b-brought me books, so I wouldn't be bored, and I'll be okay if it rains because Antonio put this up for me..." He gestured to the tarp above his head. Oh; so that's what it was.

Roma sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose to stave off the inevitable headache. "I just wish you wouldn't do things like this without even telling me, Feliciano. You're my grandson, and I love you, and if you ever got hurt I don't know how I would bear it."

"Oh no, I'm so sorry! I didn't even think- I didn't mean to worry you!" Feliciano exclaimed "Are you… do I have to leave now?" He said, looking down at the ground.

Roma chuckled sadly. "No, you're an adult now, Feli. You can make your own decisions. Besides;" He gestured to the chains around Feliciano's waist. "How am I going to get you out of that?" Feliciano chuckled as well, and the mood was lightened just a bit. "No, Feliciano, you'll stay. And you'll also get to deal with the consequences of your actions, whatever they may be. Are we clear?"

The younger Italian nodded determinedly, his smile still not totally forgone as he tried to look as serious as he could. "Si, of course!"

Roma smirked. "That includes paying the fine and possibly doing the time you get when you get arrested for this. And I don't mean if; I mean when."

Feliciano's face immediately fell. "V-ve? But if it works-"

"No matter if it works and the loggers go away, you're still breaking the law. Can you handle that?" He had to make sure – _absolutely _sure – that Feliciano was confident enough to go through with this. Otherwise, he knew the whole thing would go to hell fast.

Feliciano nodded again, this time completely serious. "Si. Si, I know I can."

Roma smiled. "Good. Now then;" He sat down carefully beside him, earning a surprised look from the little Italian. "I wouldn't want you to be lonely, now would I?"

Back at the university, Lovino was getting anxious. Like, a lot. Barely able to stay still, let alone pay attention, the teacher's words were lost on the Italian as all the possible fates that could be waiting for him when he returned ran through his head. He was dead. He was so, so dead. His grandpa had said he would deal with him later, and he knew what that meant.

"Lovi?" He turned to his side, realizing that Antonio had probably been calling his name for a while now.

"What?" He whispered harshly.

"It'll be alright." Antonio whispered back. Lovino turned back to the front of the room, his cheeks just a bit red. How did the bastard always know when something was wrong with him, dammit? When the class finally let out, they were luckily on relatively the same schedule, so the two had a nice patch of free time before their next class. "What are you so worried about, querido?" Antonio asked, looking genuinely concerned as the two sat together on their bench in the sun. Lovino blushed at the Spanish endearment before he answered.

"Nonno knows about Feli." He said, his gaze fixed resolutely on the pavement before him.

"Ah, but that can't be it, can it?" Antonio said, leaning closer. "Tell me, why is it so bad that your grandfather knows?"

"Why do you think, moron?" Lovino replied, his heart not really in the insult. "Because I've been lying to him this whole time, that's why! And… and now he's probably going to blame _me _for letting Feliciano do something stupid like he is, and Feli might have to come home because of me, and I just never meant it to go this way, dammit!" His words grew in intensity near the end of the sentence.

"Shh, it's alright." Antonio said comfortingly, putting his arms around the Italian and pulling him into a hug. For once Lovino didn't push him away, didn't protest. He just hugged him back, hiding his face in Antonio's chest. "I'm sure your grandpa won't be too mad. You were both doing what you thought was right, si? And besides that, I don't think he could get Feli away from that tree if he tried."

Lovino chuckled, lifting his head. "Yeah. I guess you're right." His smile suddenly turned to a frown, and he pointed a finger sternly at Antonio's face. "If you ever tell anyone about this moment of weakness, I swear to God they will never find your body."

Antonio just laughed. "Ahahaha, don't worry, Lovino! Your secret's safe with me!" He said with that airhead smile of his.

Lovino punched him half-heartedly in the shoulder. "Bastard." He muttered.

"You!" They both snapped up at the voice, to see a girl marching toward them. The girl had long, mousy-brown hair and green eyes, and a yellow flower was tucked behind one of her ears. She would have looked rather sweet and innocent, had she not been heading for that bench with a look of fury in her eyes that really made Lovino want to hide in a corner. The girl was Elizabeta, and she was notorious for being both the nicest and most terrifying biology major on campus. She was teased for being so vengeful when she was supposed to be studying to be a doctor, but most people left her alone as she was the only one who could handle Gilbert. After the Italians had started attending the college, the Hungarian girl had taken a strong liking to them. Especially Feli, who she thought was the most adorable creature on the face of the Earth. Though, Lovino had gotten more attention from her since he started dating Antonio, but he was really unsure as to whether that was a good or a bad thing. She stopped in front of them, glaring down at the Italian. "I can't believe you!" She said angrily, hands on her hips. "Your poor brother is out there all alone, bravely trying to save the trees, and you aren't out there supporting him?"

Lovino's eyebrows furrowed. "Why are you yelling at me _now?_ What about when this whole thing started!?"

"That was before Feliciano got visited by a _policeman!" _Elizabeta shouted, emphasizing the last word. "You should be out there chained to a tree with him! What kind of brother are you!?"

"Hey, hey!" Antonio stood, stepping in between the two with a nervous smile on his face. "Why do we have to fight? We're friends, right?"

"This doesn't concern you, Toni." Elizabeta said. Lovino twitched. Only he got to use that nickname, dammit!

"Lizzy, please, poor Lovi has already been beating himself up about it!" Antonio pleaded.

Elizabeta looked skeptically back to Lovino, only to notice that he did have a twinge of guilt in his eyes. She sighed and pressed the heel of her palm to her forehead. "Alright. Fine. I'll let you off the hook this time." Now that she had apparently deemed her job done, she took the liberty of plopping back on the bench at the same time Antonio did. "How did you even get your grandpa to agree in the first place?" She asked.

Lovino looked away and muttered; "I told him Feli was staying at your house…"

"_My _house?" She parroted, eyes wide. He nodded. "And you didn't even tell me? What are you planning to do if he calls to check up on him?"

Huh… Honestly, he hadn't thought through quite that far. Luckily, though, the issue was a moot point by now. "Nonno already knows about him and his tree, so there." He said smugly.

Elizabeta looked thoughtful. "And he hasn't killed you yet?"

"N-no…" Lovino said. "He said he'd deal with me later…"

"Ohhh." Elizabeta said in understanding. "Don't worry, I'm sure the funeral will be lovely."

"Sh-shut up!" Lovino protested as Elizabeta laughed. "Bitch…"

"What was that?" She asked sternly.

"Nothing! Nothing, I didn't say anything."

Luckily for Lovino, his boyfriend (Who was _so _going to have this come back to him in a good way later) stepped in. "Oh, Lizzy, I'm sorry but Lovi and I have to leave for our next class together!" He said, standing up, and taking Lovino with him by the hand.

"Oh, that's alright!" Elizabeta said cheerily as she waved them off. "I'll see you both later!" Lovino waited until she was out of view, then let out a relieved breath. "Oh, thank God. I don't

think I could have taken any more interrogation."

Antonio laughed. "You should be nicer to her, Lovi!" He said as they walked. "She was only worried about your brother."

Lovino rolled his eyes. "Right, right. Because apparently she's decided to fucking adopt us or something." Antonio laughed again before they found the doorway to their classroom and stepped in. Though he felt a little better for Antonio's comforting, Lovino was still nervous as hell about what might be waiting for him when he got home.

Which is why when he _did _get home, he found himself, once again, really not wanting to even touch the doorknob. When he finally forced himself to open the door and call "I'm home" through the house, he didn't have the luxury this time of being greeted by another of his grandpa's notes. Instead, Roma was sitting right there in his armchair, reading his newspaper like usual. Roma stood from his chair; rolled the paper up, and whacked Lovino on the head with it.

"Ow!" Lovino shouted. "What the hell, old man!? What was- wait." His eyes widened when he realized he wasn't being berated, scolded, or anything of the sort. His grandfather was just standing there, looking by all means unhappy, but not like the furious dragon he had feared he'd have to deal with. "Was that it?" Lovino asked incredulously.

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, Lovino." Roma said with a hint of humor.

"No, but seriously!" Lovino continued. "I lied to you about Feliciano and totally enabled him to do something stupid and dangerous like chain himself to a fucking tree, and all you do is hit me on the head with a _newspaper? _Have you finally gone soft, or are you just too tired to kill me? Are you gonna do it tomorrow when you're rested, is that it?"

This time Roma laughed, just a bit. "No, no." He reassured him. "I spent the day with your brother." He said.

"And?" Lovino asked cautiously.

Roma sighed. "In the end, I suppose you two really were just doing what you thought was right. And besides, what was I going to do? I can't exactly send two nineteen year olds to their rooms, especially the one who currently couldn't climb our stairs if he wanted to." His eyes turned icy for a second, and Lovino gulped. "But if either of you ever do anything like this without telling me again, you won't get off quite so easy."

Lovino nodded. "Yeah, right. Um… we won't. I won't, anyway."

"Good. Now then." Roma said, dismissing him with a wave of the hand. "Go off and do whatever work you have to do today. I'm going to go back to my newspaper, which I _didn't _get to read this morning, I wonder why." He said as he made his way back toward the armchair. Lovino started his way up the stairs, thinking that taking his grandfather's advice was probably good around now. "Oh, and Lovino?" Roma's call stopped him.

"Yeah?" Lovino called back.

"You're making dinner tonight." Lovino just grumbled and started back up the stairs. The joke was on him, though; he'd been waiting to try out a new recipe for months.


	5. Chapter 5

Ludwig was a simple man. He reveled in order and routine, one reason he enjoyed donning his blue uniform each day and helping keep the peace. He had a neat little set of principles, which he never violated, and that was enough for him to muddle his way through life. Beyond that, things could get… confusing. And so when he got home after work on the day he had been sent after the little Italian activist, he was faced with a huge dilemma; everything he had learned growing up, and then again during his training, had just been gone against. So… why did it feel like he had done the right thing?

The question had been bothering him since he got back the day before. Even now, as he sat in the police office with nothing to do, he couldn't help but wonder what he had been thinking. Should he have just gone with the plan and taken the man into custody? Or was there something about this he was missing?

"Beilschmidt!" He was startled out of his train of thought by the loud bark of the police captain, Mrs. Braginski, who was staring down at him with cold eyes. Ludwig gulped. She was mad about something, and that didn't bode well for his health.

"J-ja?" He stuttered, cursing himself for slipping back into German. He may have been living in America for years, but it was still a habit whenever he was nervous.

"I sent you out to the forest yesterday to pick up that tree hugger, right? Simple job?" Ludwig nodded dumbly. "Then why do my sources tell me he's still there?" Ludwig bit back the urge to point out that her "sources" consisted of her son, Ivan, who couldn't have been much older than the Italian himself.

"Um, I'm sorry, captain" Ludwig said. "I couldn't- I mean, I…"

"What could have possibly gotten in your way?" The captain said harshly. "For God's sake, it's just one idealistic college student! You get one more chance, Beilschmidt. _One." _Ludwig nodded again, leaving the captain to walk out of the room and into her office. Great, just great… she'd have his head on a platter if he failed to do his job again. He supposed he'd just have to go back another day and finish the job. Sighing, Ludwig buried himself once again in his paperwork.

He got back to his apartment late that night, hanging his jacket on the hook near the door.

"Gilbert, I'm home!" He called through the house. He heard a bump and a shuffle, and was soon greeted by the sight of his older brother, Gilbert. The albino stuck his head through the kitchen doorway, grinning like a fool. So, nothing unusual.

"Hey! You're just in time!" He said excitedly, grabbing Ludwig and pulling him into the kitchen. "I was just about to do an awesome experiment!" Ludwig blinked, confused at the sight before him. It looked like Gilbert had set up some kind of mini chem-lab on the counter, with a couple of test tubes and beakers full of dubious liquids here or there, and a Bunsen burner in the corner. Gilbert, a chemistry major, was always trying the oddest (and most dangerous) things in their kitchen, to the point where Ludwig outrightly refused to use it for actual food. As a consequence, he normally either ate out or bought something instant from the convenience store. Though he was technically older than Ludwig, Gilbert had stayed in school far longer than his brother, as he was held back so often in high school his teachers had begun to worry if he should be sent to some kind of specialist.

"What is this?" Ludwig asked, suspicious of whatever his brother was trying.

"Just watch!" Gilbert said. He picked up a fork and stirred it into one of the beakers. Quite literally, since the metal immediately dissolved as soon as it touched the liquid.

Ludwig's eyes widened. "Gilbert, why do you have acid strong enough to _eat forks _in our home?"

"It'll be fine! Like I said, just watch!" Ludwig watched dubiously, doubtful that it would be 'just 'fine'. Still, he held back and allowed Gilbert to do… whatever it is he wanted to do. After all, what did he know about chemistry? His brother had to know what he was doing. He looked on as Gilbert took another beaker and mixed the contents into the first. He then positioned his finger over the mixture of acid, and- wait, he what!?

"Wait!" Ludwig shouted, ignoring his brother's protests as he pulled him away from the beaker, knocking the solution on the ground.

"What the hell, Ludwig!? I was-" Gilbert stopped midsentence when the two began to hear a menacing hissing noise. They both turned to the floor to see that whatever had been in the beaker had eaten straight through the linoleum. "Huh… that was supposed to have neutralized it… maybe I didn't measure it quite right…" He began to mumble to himself.

"You didn't measure it right? Is that it!?" Ludwig began to yell. "You could have lost a finger! Why they ever let someone as reckless as you work with _dangerous chemicals _I'll never know! How did you even get your hands on this!?"

"Well, it wasn't exactly legal…" Ludwig began to glare fiercely at his brother. "Hey, hey!" The albino held up his hands in defense. "I was curious, alright?"

Curious indeed… Ludwig sighed, running his hands through his hair. "What do we do about that, then?" He said, gesturing toward the newly-formed hole in the ground.

"Um… I don't know. I doubt cleaning it up with a towel would work… you know what? Just leave it, I'll figure something out." Far too tired to argue, Ludwig just grunted his agreement and set to making them dinner. Due to the aforementioned toxicity of the kitchen, dinner consisted of two cups of instant ramen, the water cooked in the small gas stove he kept upstairs. Ludwig sat in silence as he ate. Not that he would have been able to get a word in edgewise, anyway. Gilbert made sure of that.

The brothers had been living on their own together for only a few months now. Gilbert had gotten his own place as soon as he was old enough to move out, and would constantly brag in visits home about how awesome it was. Just a few months ago it turned out that Gilbert lived right next to the police station Ludwig had been offered a position at. Gilbert had immediately offered to let his little brother stay with him, if only so he could have someone around to marvel at his awesomeness. His words, not Ludwig's. Ludwig couldn't help but think that the albino was really just lonely, but he never said anything. He was glad to be offered a place to stay, and took the offer eagerly. Little had he known what he was getting into…

The ramen finished, Ludwig stood to throw away his cup. "Goodnight, Gilbert." He said, heading away from the trashcan and toward his bedroom.

"What?" Gilbert asked. "Come on, it's only eight thirty!"

Ludwig glanced at the clock; he was right. "I have to get up early tomorrow, and I'm exhausted anyway. Goodnight."

Gilbert sighed. "Night." He replied. Ludwig retired to his bedroom, fully intending to climb under the covers as quickly as he could and get a good night's sleep. But something was still bothering him, something that would probably keep him up all night if he let it alone. He stood in place for a minute, debating with himself.

"Screw it." He finally mumbled under his breath. He grabbed his laptop, the most expensive thing he owned besides his car, and sat down on the bed with it. Starting up the web browser, he hesitated a moment, trying to figure out what to search for. He finally typed "cutting down forests" into the search bar, and came up with millions of results. He clicked on the first link he saw, and lifted his eyebrows at the page he saw.

It was a website about redwood forests in California. Ludwig read on intently about the giant trees, grown over thousands of years but cut down in minutes. He frowned. That seemed ridiculous to him. And besides, weren't trees supposed to be good for you… or something? He obviously needed to do more research.

He spent almost an hour on the computer, searching term after term for the answers he wanted. He found stories of entire forests cut clear, of animals chased from their homes. There were tales of protesters having pepper spray forcibly applied to their eyes by the police, in some form of cruel punishment. He grimaced at the actions of his fellow policemen. Even more search terms brought him to issues more diverse than the trees alone. Vast soups of trash in the oceans. Oil spills. Disappearing species. And he hadn't even _known _it was possible to rain acid. It sounded like something out of a dystopian, science-fiction world! He would have searched longer, but a quick glance at the clock in the corner of the screen told him it was already much later than he'd intended to go to bed; almost nine thirty. He shut down the computer, closed the top, and put it back away. Still deep in thought, he began to shuck his clothes and don his pajamas, and finally slipped under the covers.

Sleep didn't come easily, though. His mind was still wracked with questions. Why would people do such a thing to their own planet, he thought? Who were these mysterious people trying to put an end to all of this madness? And perhaps most importantly, if he was supposed to be one of the good guys… than why was it his job to stop them?


End file.
